Sarah Palin stopped in Philadelphia May 31 as part of a secretive bus trip to historic sites that raised questions about whether it was really a publicity maneuver for a 2012 presidential run. (AP photo)

When a documentary about Alaska Republican Sarah Palin premiere in Iowa next week, it will help Iowans understand her humble history and what it took to rise into leadership, the filmmaker said today.

“I believe it sets the record straight that she clearly deserves to be at the table when you talk about leaders of the country,” said Stephen Bannon, the writer, director and producer. “Her record (as governor) is far greater than Governor Romney or Governor Pawlenty.”

The two presidential candidates — one ran Massachusetts for four years and one led Minnesota for eight years — didn’t set a high bar, Bannon said in a telephone interview.

“The Undefeated” will play at the Pella Opera House in Pella at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Bannon said.

“It’s a very complex film and it was a very complicated shoot, but the hardest thing I had to do was pick a place for the premier,” said Bannon, who scouted over 100 locations and found many tempting.

Bannon invited Palin, who was Republican U.S. Sen. John McCain’s running mate in 2008 and has been flirting with jumping into the 2012 presidential race, but she has not yet RSVP’ed, he said.

“I hope she attends but it’s not essential,” he said.

Eventually, the movie will run in AMC Theatres in Iowa, and will be released via pay per view and home video, he said.

“We’re going to show this all around Iowa,” he said. “There will not be a household in America that does not have access.”

Bannon, of Laguna Beach, Calif., began the project after Palin’s political action committee, SarahPAC, approached him. But he and Victory Film Group footed the bill and carried the risk, which gave them free-ranging creative license to tell the story the way they wished, he said.

Critics, even those within the Republican party, “eviscerate her intelligence and her style,” and refer to her as “Caribou Barbie” and an airhead, he said.

“You can’t understand the meaning of this woman until you understand her stewardship as governor,” he said. “It’s a story of extraordinary accomplishment.”

Palin’s father was a teacher who had to get extra summer work to support the family She went from running a tiny commercial fishing operation with her husband to becoming governor of Alaska, Bannon said. She confronted a corrupt Republican party that was in cahoots with big oil and “hit them with a flame thrower,” he said.

Bannon said he hopes the documentary will appeal not only to conservatives but to moderates — and perhaps even liberals.

“A lot of liberals walk out — and some people she rubs the wrong way just like President Obama rubs people the wrong way — but people come out with a grudging admiration,” he said.

How to get tickets

For free tickets to the Iowa debut of “The Undefeated” call the Pella Opera House at (641) 628-8625.